Describe the main features of the measure/initiative:
Women Inc. works on equal opportunities in the areas of health, work, media, education, money and government.
On September 29, 2020, the sixth edition of the Global Media Monitoring Project took place. This is the largest and longest-running study worldwide that systematically measures how men and women are represented in the news. Every five years, on one specific day, research takes place in 145 countries how often and in what role or capacity women and men appear in the news and what topics they talk about. This study takes place every five years since 1995.
This year, Free Press Unlimited and Women Inc. carried out the monitoring of the Global Media Monitoring Project in the Netherlands. Both organisations are committed to a proportional representation (m/f/x) in the media. Inclusive media contribute to broader and better perspectives in the labour market and to a more equitable division of work/care between women and men.
Website of the measure/initiative, if available:
What are the results achieved so far through the implementation of the measure/initiative?:
The findings show that women, non-binary persons, trans persons and persons of colour are still under-represented. Despite the fact that especially the past years, various Dutch media have been actively involved in improving the portrayal of women in their media, little progress has been made in relation to recent years.
It is striking that when Dutch politicians appeared in the news, only Mayor Femke Halsema made the news as a woman. The other politicians were all men, while our politics is made up of 32% women. That the news is dominated by male perspective is evidenced by the fact that only 25% of the people who report the news are women and 75% are men. In addition, women are much less often (only 21%) quoted or questioned about their expertise than men. The subject that scores the lowest when it comes to women representation is science and health. Of these, only 16% of journalists are women.
The research shows that change is desperately needed to achieve inclusive imaging in the Dutch media. The following recommendations indicate how the media sector, media makers, policy makers, executives, financiers can step in:
- Do annual research;
- Stimulate initiatives;
- Start pragmatically and work towards an inclusive approach;
- Recognise that everyone is biased;
- Make diversity the core of your policy;
- Put diversity at the heart of quality assessment, and
- Work together with funds and clients on a sustainable diversity policy.